2 weeks Ago By ABMN Staff
Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst Co. ( NYSE:UNF – Free Report ) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The institutional investor owned 1,780 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company.
Barclays PLC grew its position in UniFirst by 464.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,220 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,188,000 after purchasing an additional 33,919 shares during the period.
Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 1.8% during the 4th quarter.
Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,535 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.
grew its holdings in shares of UniFirst by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.
now owns 11,519 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.
bought a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of UniFirst by 25.5% in the fourth quarter.
Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,793 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of UniFirst from $218.
00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.
com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.
00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $152.00 target price (down previously from $180.
00) on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.
com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.00. UniFirst Price Performance NYSE UNF opened at $172.
37 on Thursday. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $149.
58 and a 1 year high of $243.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.
20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04 and a beta of 0.88.
The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.26 and a 200 day moving average of $195.82.
UniFirst ( NYSE:UNF – Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.
34 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $602.
20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 6.
00% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.
9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS.
Research analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.
UniFirst Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.35 dividend.
The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.
81%. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.41%.
UniFirst declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to reacquire up to 3.
3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued. Insider Transactions at UniFirst In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th.
The shares were sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05.
Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.
75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link . Corporate insiders own 0.
86% of the company’s stock. UniFirst Company Profile ( Free Report ) UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.
S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.
See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UniFirst Co. ( NYSE:UNF – Free Report ).
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